News Briefing
Deutscher Industrie – und Handelskammertag (DIHK — Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry) published a survey on November 25, stating that more than half of 3,200 German companies surveyed overseas have problems with their supply chains or logistics; an increase of 14% compared to those surveyed in spring. Under this context, many companies have chosen to look for new suppliers or simply transfer their production bases.

Impact Analysis
According to a survey conducted by the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry, 54% of German companies have changed or are planning to change their supply chains. Among them, 72% of companies have chosen to seek new suppliers, whereas 15% of them simply planned to relocate their production bases. Despite the supply chain crisis brought about by COVID-19, these multinational companies still find it hard to give up the huge domestic demand market in China. As such, the alternative would be to find suppliers outside of China in Asia to reduce the risk of relying on a single source of supply via diversified supply chains.

The restructuring trends of the global supply chain can be traced back to the US-China trade war in 2018, and countries have gradually formed themselves into two major technological camps since then. After this, the outbreak of the epidemic has severely affected life and economies around the world. Consequently, most of the small and medium-sized manufacturing industry, as well as the service industry, are subject to harsh environmental competition and even elimination, except for a few companies capable of digital transformation. Due to this chain effect, European countries' local economies have already been confronted with challenges such as youth unemployment rates soaring consistently. Furthermore, the United States has even proposed that the manufacturing industry should return to its home country due to economic and national security needs. It is obvious that reviving the local economy has become a priority of governmental administrations in most countries. It can be seen that these factors have triggered a re-combination of global industrial supply chains that focused on production in low-cost countries in the past but have now changed to on-site production in the countries of primary consumption.

In addition, the semiconductor and electronics industries in Taiwan have experienced significant growth driven epidemic control and stabilization and the positive effects of re-organization from global supply chains this year. In 2021, the output value of PCB for Taiwan is expected to have exceeded the threshold of NT$800 billion for the first time. In view of future prospects, net-zero carbon emissions have become a common goal of green trends worldwide and they are most likely to generate opportunities for novel ecological chains, new business models and new layouts. This is considered to be a key trend for the re-organization of future supply chains. As such, Taiwan needs to achieve the goal of net-zero carbon emissions concurrently with the rest of the world and it is also important that Taiwan must - aside from striving to comply with the rules for emerging industries - achieve the goals to implement energy saving, carbon reduction, and sustainable operation. This will enhance the international image of corporate brands.